Union 5-3992

Metallica - ...And Justice For All Amigo the Devil - Volume 1 Primus - Frizzle Fry

There was a time I would have said Closer to the Heart or another over played song. But after a recent hiatus from the band, my appreciation for those songs returned. If an annoying song is overplayed, time and distance can warm it back up to me. That said, I'd be fine if I never hear "In the Mood" ever again. Why it was a concert staple for so long is a mystery to me. It's a blight on all those early live albums.

Rush - Grace Under Pressure Wilderun - Epigone Caligula's Horse - Charcoal Grace Primus - The Desaturating Seven Unleash the Archers - Apex Deep Purple - Machine Head Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are Slomosa - Slomosa Alice in Chains - Facelift Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun

I drove across southwest Ontario today so I had time to play some music: A Perfect Circle - Mer de noms Strapping Young Lad - Alien Devin Townsend - Terria The Tragically Hip - Man Machine Poem Rush - Clockwork Angels Handsome Jack - A Good Thing Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression Murder By Death - Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them? Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta! Gary Clark Jr - JPEG RAW

If New Jack wasn't dead, he'd be devastated:

All I got to see in Livingston County, NY. It was still cool to see all the lights flicker on across the valley. And experience it with my parents (who lived a mile from this vantage point). It sucks it was cloudy (my fault for playing Dark Side of the Moon on the way there), but it was still pretty awesome for a quick drive.

Driving east to wast in WNY, I've never seen so many out-of-state cars to see a cloudy eclipse. It was still cool even with the clouds through. 390 South and 86 were both nightmares apparently.

We may be able to see it through the clouds though so that's nice I guess

I seen a barrel of pickles in my day.

Bro you get the only non cloudy part of the country other than Maine

That must be the first earthquake in NYC since Wrestlemania X

It's quite hard as the top 7 can shift around a bit. I only consider the last two pretty meh.

King Crimson - Discipline King Crimson - Beat Frank Zappa - Sheik Yerbouti Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex

A few tracks stood out in this film. "No More Lies" is a perfect driving song

The Tragically Hip: 1. Fully Completely 2. Day for Night 3. Road Apples 4. Phantom Power 5. Trouble at the Henhouse 6. Man Machine Poem 7. In Violet Light 8. Up To Here 9. In Between Evolution 10. Music @ Work 11. Now For Plan A 12. We Are the Same 13. World Container

And Stone Temple Pilots 1. Purple 2. Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop 3. Core 3.5 High Rise featuring Chester Bennington 4. No. 4 5. Stone Temple Pilots (2018) 6. Stone Temple Pilots (2010) 7. Perdida 8. Shangri-La Dee Da

Speaking of big 90s Rock bands, I'll try Smashing Pumpkins with one of the more predictable top 5s ever 1. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness 2. Siamese dream 3. Adore 4. Gish 5. Pisces Iscariot (All unreleased songs so I count this one) 6. Oceania 7. Machina/The Machines of God 8. Shiny and Oh So bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No future. No Sun. 9. Cyr 10. Atum 11. Zeitgeist 12. Monuments to an Elegy That bottom half is pretty bleak. Even reuniting with several of the originals did nothing to help them.

I wouldn't call them a carbon copy of Pearl Jam, but I think their sound isn't as distinct as some of their peers.Their first two albums are peak grunge and their third album is a great psychedelic inspired album. The rest of their discography then comes down to personal taste. I like most of it quite a bit, but it's not for everyone.

I think their third album has quite a bit to like on it. They fall off a bit after that though. Unpopular but I'm partial to STP 2010 since it has more of a Bowie influence. They also had a solid EP with Chester Bennington which people hated at the time but I think it has aged well.

Also the same ranking. Where would you wedge STP in as they're another grunge band from it's golden age.

Paradise Lost - Obsidian Devin Townsend Project - Epicloud Testament - The New Order Judas Priest - Invincible Shield Wilderun - Epigone Death - The Sound of Perseverance

Compared to a number of their peers, they absolutely went out near the top. They stopped long before they became a parody of themselves. Sure Geddy's voice had degraded a bit after Snakes & Arrows, but the band still played extremely well. If I remember correctly, most of Alex's flubs were at the start of the tour. Once things got going, they were on fire. It's a shame Geddy waited 40 years to start getting into esoteric basses. That was also a real treat.

Primus - The Desaturating Seven Burning Witches - The Dark Tower Slomosa - Slomosa Pearl Jam - Gigaton Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mojo Red Hot Chili Peppers - Unlimited Love

Gigaton is one of my top 5 by the band. It was a really cool change in style for them.

I fully went into my R40 show expecting this to be the very final show I'll ever see from them. I was seeing my favorite band go out on top. I even bought Neil's R40 travel book, Far and Wide and went to see Geddy & Alex do an interview/signing at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, but that more just felt like an epilogue. Following Neil's death, that stung quite a bit especially with the 1-2 punch of COVID and a crisis in my personal life almost immediately after. His death caused me to return to their music after a bit of a hiatus and made me appreciate his words and his talent behind the kit even more. Geddy's book just feels like an additional epilogue to a book i closed long ago. It's a great read and I'm grateful that he released such a detailed retelling of his life and time in the band, even if he could have given us another 200 pages. It gave me a better understanding of how much he and the others truly busted their asses to make it and the sacrifices that came with his level of fame. And again, after not listening to Rush for a long while, I burned through the entire discography (studio and live) as I read through the book. This band remains my absolute favorite even if my listening wanes every now and then. It just hits harder when I return to it after a long time away.